Ralf Speth

Ralf Speth
KBE FRS
Speth in 2012
Born
Ralf Dieter Speth

(1955-09-09) 9 September 1955 (age 69)
Roth, Bavaria, West Germany (now Germany)
Citizenship
  • Germany
  • United Kingdom (since 2019)
Alma materWarwick Manufacturing Group
OccupationAutomotive industry executive
Known forFormer CEO of Jaguar Land Rover.
TitleChairman, TVS Motor Company,[1] Additional director of Tata Sons[2]
SuccessorThierry Bolloré

Ralf Dieter Speth KBE FRS (born 9 September 1955[3]) is a German automotive executive and a director of Indian company Tata Sons since 2016. From 2010 to 2020, he was the chief executive officer of Jaguar Land Rover.[4] He has also had roles with BMW, Linde and Ford's Premier Automotive Group. Since 2022, Speth is the chairman of Indian Automaker TVS Motor Company.[5]

Education

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Speth earned a degree in engineering from the University of Applied Sciences Rosenheim, Germany. He later undertook a doctorate of engineering in mechanical engineering and business administration at the University of Warwick.[6]

Career

[edit]

Speth started his automotive career with BMW in 1980 and worked for them for 20 years.[7]

In 2002, he joined The Linde Group as head of global operations and vice president of operations. He was also chief operating officer and a member of the executive board at its subsidiary KION Group GmbH.[8]

In 2007, Speth returned to the car industry and joined Ford Motor Company's Premier Automotive Group (PAG) as director of production, quality and product planning. Following the sale of two of the PAG marques, Jaguar and Land Rover, to Tata, he became chief executive officer of Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) in February 2010, and a non-executive director of Tata Motors in November 2010.[9]

Under Speth's management, JLR increased the company's workforce significantly. "We have added more than 17,000 people in the course of the last five years," he said in an interview published in June 2015.[10] Speth championed the need for R&D and made much of JLR's investment in R&D. "I guess we are the biggest R&D investor in the UK in the automotive business," he claimed.

In the 2015 Special Honours list, Speth was appointed an honorary Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire for his services to the automotive industry.[11] In August 2019, the award was made substantive following Speth becoming a British citizen.[12][13]

In September 2016, Speth was appointed an honorary professor, having previously been an industrial professor.[14]

In October 2016, Speth was appointed an additional director on the board of Tata Sons.[15] On 30 January 2020 he announced his intention to retire from his role as CEO of JLR effective September 2020, but remain on both the JLR and Tata Sons boards.[16] He entered into a non-executive role in the company and was succeeded by the CEO of Renault, Thierry Bolloré.[17]

In 2020, he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society.[18]

In April 2022, Speth took over the role of chairman of Indian automaker TVS Motor Company, succeeding Venu Srinivasan.[19]

In 2023, Speth was given an honorary doctorate from the University of Warwick.[20]

Personal life

[edit]

He is married, with two children, and lives between Leamington Spa and Munich.[21]

References

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  1. ^ "TVS appoints Ralf Speth as chairman; Venu Srinivasan to continue as MD". 8 February 2022.
  2. ^ Ralf Speth, Tata Group Leadership Team
  3. ^ "Dr Ralf Speth,Chief Executive Officer". Design Council. Archived from the original on 28 June 2012. Retrieved 21 January 2013.
  4. ^ "Dr. Ralf D. Speth, Chief Executive Officer of Jaguar Land Rover Limited, poses next to a new Jaguar F-Type". Driving.ca. 27 September 2012. Retrieved 21 January 2013.
  5. ^ "TVS appoints Ralf Speth as chairman; Venu Srinivasan to continue as MD". Moneycontrol. 8 February 2022. Retrieved 28 April 2022.
  6. ^ "Ralf D. Speth". Bloomberg. Retrieved 21 January 2013.[dead link‍]
  7. ^ "Dr Ralf Speth, CEO Jaguar Land Rover". Design Council. Archived from the original on 28 June 2012. Retrieved 21 January 2013.
  8. ^ "Ralf Speth: Resurgent Jaguar Land Rover shifts up a gear". The Independent. 23 October 2011. Retrieved 31 October 2014.
  9. ^ "Ralf D. Speth". Bloomberg Businessweek. Retrieved 28 November 2014.[dead link‍]
  10. ^ "R&D Investment Makes Good Business Sense". Ingenia. Retrieved 14 May 2015.[permanent dead link‍]
  11. ^ "Honorary British awards to foreign nationals - 2015" (pdf). GOV.UK. 26 March 2015.
  12. ^ "CENTRAL CHANCERY OF THE ORDERS OF KNIGHTHOOD | Honours and Awards | the Gazette".
  13. ^ Cropley, Steve (19 November 2019). "The future of Jaguar Land Rover, according to CEO Ralf Speth". autocar.co.uk. Retrieved 16 April 2024.
  14. ^ "Two senior Jaguar Land Rover staff become Professors at WMG". warwick.ac.uk. Retrieved 3 April 2018.
  15. ^ Ralf Speth, N. Chandrasekaran join Tata Sons Board
  16. ^ "JLR CEO Ralf Speth to retire Sept; remain on Tata Sons board: Tata Motors". Business Standard India. Press Trust of India. 30 January 2020.
  17. ^ Tovey, Alan (28 July 2020). "Jaguar Land Rover names former Renault boss Thierry Bolloré as new chief". The Telegraph. Retrieved 28 July 2020.
  18. ^ "Ralf Speth". Royal Society. Retrieved 20 September 2020.
  19. ^ "TVS appoints Ralf Speth as chairman; Venu Srinivasan to continue as MD". Moneycontrol. 8 February 2022. Retrieved 28 April 2022.
  20. ^ "List of all Honorary Graduates and Chancellor's Medallists". warwick.ac.uk. Retrieved 1 May 2024.
  21. ^ "JLR chief: Car industry 'most complex on earth'". The Telegraph. 29 September 2012. Retrieved 21 January 2013.
Business positions
Preceded by
 CEO of Jaguar Land Rover
2010–2020 		Succeeded by
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